10 September 2010

Girls Cross Country: Tigers rank 9th at Montgomery

The Tiger girls missed the presence of Bailey Opsal in the lineup but still managed a ninth place finish in the 29-team Redbird Invitational held Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Montgomery Golf Course in Montgomery.

Opsal became ill and had to be dropped from the lineup just before race time, leaving the team with just six varsity runners. Still, the depleted squad produced positive results.

"In spite of running a longer distance this week (4000 meters instead of 3200), I think the girls were much more confident in this race," coach Heidi Revels said. "Most of them were familiar with the course and the conditions were much better than last year."

Maricia Pacheco led the tight pack of Farmington finishers that crossed the finish line in a span of 65 seconds with a 41st place finish in 16:59.8.

Maria Kiminski took 59th in 17:19; Sofia Chadwick 60th in 17:20.3; Victoria Jacoby 65th in 17:29.1; Nicole Clifton 68th in 17:33.9 and Marissa Stewart 92nd in 18:04.5.

As well as the shorthanded varsity lineup ran, Revels said the performance of the day belonged to middle schooler Morgan Medved who placed 21st and earned a medal in her first-ever junior varsity meet.

"Morgan was very nervous about moving up to the JV," Revels said, "but she is definitely right where she belongs right now."